Lead zirconate titanate ferroelectric polymers

The development of active ceramic-polymer composites was undertaken for underwater hydrophones having hydrostatic piezoelectric coefficients larger than those of the commonly used lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics (60—70). It has been demonstrated that certain composite hydrophone materials are two to three orders of magnitude more sensitive than PZT ceramics while satisfying such other requirements as pressure dependency of sensitivity. The idea of composite ferroelectrics has been extended to other appHcations such as ultrasonic transducers for acoustic imaging, thermistors having both negative and positive temperature coefficients of resistance, and active sound absorbers. 

Ferroelectric composites are alternatives to standard piezoelectric and pyroelectric ceramics such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and BaHOs (BT). They combine the strong ferroelectric and dielectric properties of ceramics with the easy processing and good mechanical properties of polymers. Dispersion of micrometer-sized ferroelectric particles in an electrically passive epoxy matrix was first published by Furukawa et al. [1976] and later extended to ferroelectric matrices such as poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-3-fluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFE) [Hsiang et al., 2001 Hilczer et al., 2002 Gimenes et al., 2004 Lam et al., 2005 Beloti et al., 2006]. However, the necessity of miniaturization of electronic components and... 

Piezoelectricity appears in natural crystals such as quartz, tourmaline, rochelle salt as well as in artificially produced ceramics and polymers such as e. g. nylon or copolymers of vinylidenefluoride (VDF) with trifluoroethylene (TrFE) or with tetrafluorethylene (TeFE). Most of the piezoelectric materials used for commercial sensor applications are synthetically produced polycrystalline ferroelectric ceramics such as e.g. lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT). 

Fig. 5 The ratio of the relevant component of the piezoelectric coefficient d and the respective polarization is plotted vs. the reciprocal of the respective elastic modulus Y (i.e., the relevant component of the elastic compliance). From left to right Literature data for inorganic ferroelectrics squares) barium titanate (BaTiOs), lead zirconate titanate (PZT), and lead zirconate niobate (PZN). Ferroelectric polymers triangles) polyamide-11 (PA-11), poly(vinylidene cyanide-vinyl acetate) (P(VDCN-VAc)), polyurea-5, poly(vinylidene fiuoride (PVDF)), poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)), and poly(vinylidene-hexafiuoropropylene) (P(VDF-HFP)). Polymer ferroelectrets circles) cellular polypropylene (cellular-PP) and tubular-channel poly (fluoro-ethylene-propylene) (FEP) (Qiu et al. 2014)...

The electrical and mechanical properties trf piezoelectric polymers make them a possible alternative to ferroelectric ceramics such as lead zirconate titanate. For several reasons, they are attractive for transducer design. The mechanical flexibility and conformability of thin-film PVDF means that it can be configured into a wide range of transducer products. The low acoustic impedance of PVDF is companrf>le to body tissues, which makes it useful for acoustic imaging applications. Short impulse response and high axial resolution in acoustic imaging systems arc possible with PVDF-featured devices because of the robustness and broadband characteristics of the polymer. 

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